Information for:

Continuum Of Care

Project Information

Duration:

January 2007 - June 2010

Funding:

Charles Feeney/InterPacific Group

Project Overview

Dental disease among California’s children is preventable, yet it persists in epidemic proportions. In order to address the progressive and multi-factorial nature of the disease and its effects, it is critical to build a seamless oral health services delivery system for children from ages 1 through 11 that:

emphasizes early intervention and thus the primary prevention of the disease;

provides outreach and counseling education in a variety of settings and case management to reduce barriers to care;

assures access to early and continuous dental diagnostic, preventive and treatment services;

maximizes existing resources in the community to achieve the most cost effective result.

Key Elements

In order to create a seamless continuum of care, the demonstration project will expand on and integrate the successful elements of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Teeth project for children 0 through 5 years as well as the school based/school linked dental sealant program for elementary school children kindergarten through grade 5 based on the Children’s Dental Disease Prevention Program.

Deliverables

Each county has a unique set of pre-existing resources and collaborative partners. Despite these differences the following deliverables reflect funds already in place as well as those provided by these new funds. In each county the deliverables are:

4000-6000 children receive dental screening

1200 children receive dental sealants

1500 0-5 year olds enrolled in Healthy Kids Healthy Teeth Program

1875 number of children 0 - 11 years old receive case management to link them to dental care and health insurance, other needed social and health services as needed.

Development of Children’s Dental Program database for case management, claims information, and evaluation